Happy Love Day everyone! Or as one of my friends calls it Singles Discrimination Day. Boooo! Sucking the fun out of love day! The nice picture above comes courtesy of QR Magazine, which is jolly nice of them isn’t it. And scattered around this post are half naked men who got a few quid for posing for some Heat wannabe magazine. Hey it’s all about the love today. I did fairly well myself – some quality snuggling, a humorous yet romantic card, a great new adult book (DazPetula constantly mocks that I read “childrens” books) and OZ Season One on DVD – because nothing says I love you like a male prison drama featuring shivs, man rapes and murder ;) Working today was a bit rubbish though, but again I got lots done and am settling into new job nicely. Rather romantically, I heard the boss on the phone telling his wife “well i saw a dozen red roses in Selfridges yesterday for £150! I love you but i don’t love you that much.” Bless. Although to be fair that is a little bit pricey. Flower sellers must be rolling in pound coins around this time of year. Such an unoriginal gift. Unless you got flowers or gave flowers or are a flower and then I am sure it is probably the thought that counts. Which is a crap way of saying “your gift is worse that a dirty diaper slap around the chops”. Noice. Anyway, I had better “tootle” on as I indeed have lots of zappinglove to spread today. Jammie Dodgers Ahoy! And lots of Valentine’s love and luck to you all...
.
.THE FIVE NEW MYSPACE ACTS I AM LOVING RIGHT NOW:
.
~ Kevin Jon:Let me tell you, i am all over KJ like a rash this very day. Not only is he rocking the black shirt/white tie look on the background of his myspace, but he has quite good popstar hair too. And! He is from Worcester which is only down the road from me (and where Bernice works!) and cites Deborah Gibson as an influence. Which of course gets you major kudos and respect in the world of thezapping. In fact more people should cite her as an influence. So it’s a good thing the music is also enjoyable – with the highlight being the stomping first single When Fear Gets In The Way. Not only is it pretty inspirational but it mixes a variety of funk, r’n’b and 80s pop influences into the mix without sounding over produced or generic. Kevin has a great voice and a clear love of the people he is influenced by. His sound would go down equally well here and in the States and with some good dance remixes, club domination can’t be far off. His debut album Body Mind and Soul is scheduled for Dec 2007, with the debut single out anytime about now. Hurrah!
.
~ Sean Mac:Time to add another mac to the mix (following Stewart Mac and Ste Mack). Taking a note out of respected artists like William Young and Brian McKnight, Sean surprised me by having great insightful lyrics wrapped in classic melodies that belie his young years. Doing covers of acts like Indie.Arie certainly help build his image as a credible singer songwriter and a decent photoshoot with Paul Schnaars completes an already impressive package. Tracks like Life is A Game and Unsteady Ground practically sparkle with classic pop potential and it will be certainly interesting to see how young Sean is marketed in the fickle world of throwaway pop, when his sound is anything but.
.
~ Michael Morrison: What’s not to love about the classic imagery in that picture above? Although people mock Westlife, i completely credit them with bringing ties back into the world of pop. Michael demonstrates how much image is a part of pop – sure it’s the tunes that will keep people coming back for me, but as much as that first song, people want to notice someone – their style, their hair, their individuality. Michael combines these attributes with a fine understanding of the ingredients of a good song and puts this knowledge to good use in songs like Another Day and Wasted Ground. Rather than giving into the “fads” of the moment that will sound dated in six months (Fergie and Gwen, i mean you) Michael produces a selection of songs that transcend genres and make perfect listening whether you need some downtime or you just need an aural hug. Just lovely.
.
~ Daniel Merriweather:I wrote about young Daniel a while ago when both XO and Poppostergirl were both raving (rightly) about the stunning Stop Me If You’ve Heard This Before (an amazing Mark Ronson production). I was contacted by Daniel’s record company who informed me that this song would be Daniel’s debut worldwide single in April and since then, i’ve started taking a lot more notice of this young fella with the amazing voice. He reminds me a little bit of Prince where he fuses funk and pop styles while letting his distinctive voice still stand out. If he continues to work with quality producers, his forthcoming debut album should be an absolute corker...
.
~ Dyyce: The six boys (Dyyce/dice – get it?) i have also written about before when their myspace site seemed to be in it’s infancy. These new Blue boys in waiting seem to be developing nicely with a nice array of new songs on their myspace that have a great mix of pop, r’n’b, ballads and dance. Plus having six of them gives them something slightly different in the world of boyband pop so I’ll be keeping my eye on them a lot more closely from now on :)
.
THE SONGS I DIDN’T KNOW I LOVED:
.
I heard two new (to me) songs this week that I hadn’t heard before. Although I had heard of the artists, I’d never taken the time to listen to their music so it didn’t dawn on me who they were at first. I had to sit through the songs waiting for Box television to pop up who these amazing female vocalists were. One was the fine lady you see just above right now – Regina Spektor with her rather gorgeous song, Fidelity. Coming across as a slightly happier and more pop accessible Tori Amos, the song is a beautiful demonstration of how a trilling tune can be soaked in piano edged synth and a unique vocal to produce a happy clapalong tune. I will certainly be checking out her album, Begin To Hope... Next up was Imogen Heap with her album Speak For Yourself and particularly the song Headlock. Again another amazing artist who peppers her music with influences varying from Kate Bush to The Knife style rhythms. Always intruiging and often quite lovely. How I have not come across these ladies before now is just totally ridick...
.
LINK: Buy Imogen Heap’s Speak For Yourself
LINK: Buy Regina Spektor’s Begin To Hope
.
THE BAND I WANT TO LOVE MORE:
.
Sigh. Eton Road. Don’t they look just adorable in a fairly recent photoshoot above? Cheek chuckingly so I would go as far to say on this day of love. Indeed, they were the most interesting thing about the X Factor – yes yes purists will always maintain that Leona had the best voice and she did, but god she is sinfully dull. Yet apart from a few gay club appearances round the country, nothing has happened and Louis Walsh once again shows himself for the twat he really is. So as this is the day of love and love, actually is all around etc., etc. I thought i would put together a debut album of tracks myself for the boys – all of which are cover versions of course but some may be more obscure than others... PS ~ one star means first single in march up to four stars in December for the Christmas release...
.
1 – Me, Myself and I (scandal’us cover)*
2 – Shock Your Mama (Debbie Gibson cover)**
3 – One Bad Apple (Osmonds cover)
4 – Fools (V cover)
5 – Room In Your Heart (Living In A Box cover)
6 – ASAP (Bardot cover)
7 – One Night In Bangkok (from Chess)***
8 – Liquid Dreams (O-Town cover)
9 – He Is Your Brother (Abba cover)
10 – Hands to Heaven (Breathe cover)****
11 – (bonus track) Beatles medley
.
No quick bitz today!
.
Coming tomorrow ~ haven’t decided yet, but you can be sure it will be bloody bonza ripper!
I heard two new (to me) songs this week that I hadn’t heard before. Although I had heard of the artists, I’d never taken the time to listen to their music so it didn’t dawn on me who they were at first. I had to sit through the songs waiting for Box television to pop up who these amazing female vocalists were. One was the fine lady you see just above right now – Regina Spektor with her rather gorgeous song, Fidelity. Coming across as a slightly happier and more pop accessible Tori Amos, the song is a beautiful demonstration of how a trilling tune can be soaked in piano edged synth and a unique vocal to produce a happy clapalong tune. I will certainly be checking out her album, Begin To Hope... Next up was Imogen Heap with her album Speak For Yourself and particularly the song Headlock. Again another amazing artist who peppers her music with influences varying from Kate Bush to The Knife style rhythms. Always intruiging and often quite lovely. How I have not come across these ladies before now is just totally ridick....
LINK: Buy Imogen Heap’s Speak For Yourself
LINK: Buy Regina Spektor’s Begin To Hope
.
THE BAND I WANT TO LOVE MORE:
.
Sigh. Eton Road. Don’t they look just adorable in a fairly recent photoshoot above? Cheek chuckingly so I would go as far to say on this day of love. Indeed, they were the most interesting thing about the X Factor – yes yes purists will always maintain that Leona had the best voice and she did, but god she is sinfully dull. Yet apart from a few gay club appearances round the country, nothing has happened and Louis Walsh once again shows himself for the twat he really is. So as this is the day of love and love, actually is all around etc., etc. I thought i would put together a debut album of tracks myself for the boys – all of which are cover versions of course but some may be more obscure than others... PS ~ one star means first single in march up to four stars in December for the Christmas release....
1 – Me, Myself and I (scandal’us cover)*
2 – Shock Your Mama (Debbie Gibson cover)**
3 – One Bad Apple (Osmonds cover)
4 – Fools (V cover)
5 – Room In Your Heart (Living In A Box cover)
6 – ASAP (Bardot cover)
7 – One Night In Bangkok (from Chess)***
8 – Liquid Dreams (O-Town cover)
9 – He Is Your Brother (Abba cover)
10 – Hands to Heaven (Breathe cover)****
11 – (bonus track) Beatles medley
.
No quick bitz today!
.Coming tomorrow ~ haven’t decided yet, but you can be sure it will be bloody bonza ripper!
5 Comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Happy VD to you and Darren (and yes, that is Valentines Day. You don't deserve a venereal disease at all!)
PS: That is a very flattering photo of Daniel Merriweather. I wish that damned song would be released. It doesn't wear out for me and I want to hear it in HQ.
And how you do like your boy candy. I'll take a listen, but they had better be good!
Let's catch up on JHud at Popshow...and hands off Madison, he's mine! Just kidding - LOL. I am planning a big feature on him, so let's spread the Madison joy around!
You know you are always a rave with me. Was there any question?
Are you coming to the Stefy show?
Happy belated Valentine's!
tombigbee - tragically that is Jeff Brazier. Le Shame. What was i thinking.
EQ - sadly due to work commitments not going to pop show. BOOOOOOOOO. And i love any act that has a sterling pop base behind them boy or girl. It just happened this one was all about the lads ;)
D'Luv - back at ya you big stuf. PS - shelooked better than joss stone at the brits who were mikas album cover as a dress